Heroes and Villains of the Biblehttp://www.henrymorris3.com
Examine a real life series of events that display much of the character of God as He works through His people for His glory.Thu, 17 Aug 2017 16:41:28 +0000en-UShourly1http://www.henrymorris3.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/cropped-H3-site-logo-blue-32x32.pngHeroes and Villains of the Biblehttp://www.henrymorris3.com
3232Welcome to Heroes and Villains of the Bible podcast series by Dr. Henry M. Morris III! This sermon series starts in Genesis at the beginning of human history and continues through the rest of Scripture. Each episode will examine a real life series of events that display much of the character of God as He works through His people for His glory.Dr. Henry M. Morris IIIcleanDr. Henry M. Morris IIIhenrymorris3icr@gmail.comhenrymorris3icr@gmail.com (Dr. Henry M. Morris III)Copyright 2016 Dr. Henry M. Morris III.Heroes and Villains of the Bible: Examine a real life series of events that display much of the character of God as He works through His people for His glory.Heroes and Villains of the Biblehttp://www.henrymorris3.com/wp-content/uploads/powerpress/H3-Heroes-and-Villains-of-the-Bible-Podcast-iTunes-big.jpghttp://www.henrymorris3.com
henrymorris3icr@gmail.comEpisode 54: Focused on Eternity [Podcast]http://www.henrymorris3.com/eternity/
Wed, 17 Aug 2016 11:00:49 +0000http://www.henrymorris3.com/?p=2744http://www.henrymorris3.com/eternity/#respondhttp://www.henrymorris3.com/eternity/feed/0<p>When we get to heaven, God is never going to ask us how much we accumulated down here. But He will say to you and to me, “What have you done with My Word? And what have you done with the souls of men around you?” In this final episode of Heroes and Villains of […]</p>
<p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.henrymorris3.com/eternity/">Episode 54: Focused on Eternity [Podcast]</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.henrymorris3.com">Dr. Henry M. Morris III</a>.</p>When we get to heaven, God is never going to ask us how much we accumulated down here. But He will say to you and to me, “What have you done with My Word? And what have you done with the souls of men around you?” In this final episode of Heroes and Villains of the Bible, uncover personal application from the leadership example of Joseph. Are you focused on eternity?

Focused on Eternity

In this episode:

Get answers to the following study questions:

What implications can be discerned from the righteous leadership of Joseph over the pagan nation of Egypt?

What “big picture” questions should we ask ourselves about our role in light of eternity?

How can we make a difference for eternity?

Source: Wikipedia; Jacob Blesses His Sons, as in Genesis 49:1-2, by illustration from the 1728 Figures de la Bible; illustrated by Gerard Hoet (1648-1733) and others, and published by P. de Hondt in The Hague; image courtesy Bizzell Bible Collection, University of Oklahoma Libraries (public domain)

Joseph was in a position of great authority and power. And the Lord allowed him to do things that you and I will never have an opportunity to do. But each of us, every single one of us, every single one of us has specific responsibilities and opportunities that God intends for us to accomplish.

Our prayer ought to be all the time: Where do I fit? What is my role? How can I do the things that God has asked me to do? How do I use the resources God has allowed me to have?

We’re responsible for telling the story, but our behavior often speaks louder than what we say.Click To Tweet

I’ve said this before, but when we get to heaven, God is never going to ask us how much did we accumulate down here. He’s not going to be impressed with the size of our house because one of His rooms is going to be a whole lot more than anything you can accumulate down here. But He will say to you and to me, “What have you done with My Word? And what have you done with the souls of men that are around you?”

Those are the things He is going to ask you about. So, wherever we are in the long role of God’s taking back the Kingdom, that which is eternal—God’s Word down here on earth, the souls of men down here on earth—those are the things of value.

“What have you done with My Word and the souls of men around you?”Click To Tweet

And whether you are a prime minister or a dishwasher, it really doesn’t make much difference. It is interesting that the Lord Jesus said, “A lot of the folks who think they’re first are going to be last.” Remember that? If Joseph and Daniel and the few others like him in Scripture are any example for us, they are simply that their mind and their heart were dedicated to the things of the Kingdom.

John the Baptist, who, by the Lord Jesus was called “the greatest human” other than Himself, didn’t own any property. He lived out in the boonies; ate grasshoppers. Ack! But he had a passion in his heart. He knew what he was called for and people responded to the passion that they heard in the message he preached. So, all of our life should be focused on how we are communicating the fact that we’re children of the King and we have a message that makes a difference for eternity.

Our lives should be focused on communicating the message that makes a difference for eternity.Click To Tweet

Question: How are you living for eternity? You can leave a comment by clicking here.

* What did Jacob do that mirrored an event from his younger years?
* How did the nation of Egypt respond to Jacob’s death?
* What implications can be discerned from the righteous leadership of Joseph over the pagan nation of Egypt?
* What “big picture” questions should we ask ourselves about our role in light of eternity?
* How can we make a difference for eternity?

Joseph was in a position of great authority and power. And the Lord allowed him to do things that you and I will never have an opportunity to do. But each of us, every single one of us, every single one of us has specific responsibilities and opportunities that God intends for us to accomplish.
Our prayer ought to be all the time: Where do I fit? What is my role? How can I do the things that God has asked me to do? How do I use the resources God has allowed me to have?

We’re responsible for telling the story, but our behavior often speaks louder than what we say.Click To Tweet

I’ve said this before, but when we get to heaven, God is never going to ask us how much did we accumulate down here. He’s not going to be impressed with the size of our house because one of His rooms is going to be a whole lot more than anything you can accumulate down here. But He will say to you and to me, “What have you done with My Word? And what have you done with the souls of men that are around you?”
Those are the things He is going to ask you about. So, wherever we are in the long role of God’s taking back the Kingdom, that which is eternal—God’s Word down here on earth, the souls of men down here on earth—those are the things of value.

“What have you done with My Word and the souls of men around you?”Click To Tweet

And whether you are a prime minister or a dishwasher, it really doesn’t make much difference. It is interesting that the Lord Jesus said, “A lot of the folks who think they’re first are going to be last.” Remember that? If Joseph and Daniel and the few others like him in Scripture are any example for us, they are simply that their mind and their heart were dedicated to the things of the Kingdom.
John the Baptist, who, by the Lord Jesus was called “the greatest human” other than Himself, didn’t own any property.]]>Dr. Henry M. Morris IIIclean12:32Episode 53: Joseph the Wise Politician [Podcast]http://www.henrymorris3.com/joseph/
Wed, 10 Aug 2016 11:00:12 +0000http://www.henrymorris3.com/?p=2684http://www.henrymorris3.com/joseph/#respondhttp://www.henrymorris3.com/joseph/feed/0<p>Joseph was able to establish a political relationship that lasted for at least several generations. Israel was given a place in the land of Goshen. The years of plenty were over and the famine began to severely impact the population of Egypt. In this episode, see how Joseph applied God-given wisdom as he ruled during […]</p>
<p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.henrymorris3.com/joseph/">Episode 53: Joseph the Wise Politician [Podcast]</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.henrymorris3.com">Dr. Henry M. Morris III</a>.</p>Joseph was able to establish a political relationship that lasted for at least several generations. Israel was given a place in the land of Goshen. The years of plenty were over and the famine began to severely impact the population of Egypt. In this episode, see how Joseph applied God-given wisdom as he ruled during the crisis in Egypt.

What application can we take away from Joseph as a faithful, obedient, and wise leader?

Source: Wikipedia; All Giza Pyramids in one shot by Ricardo Liberato (Creative Commons)

When the money runs out, and it did after about a year and a half, we seem to calculate from the biblical data, he could’ve inflated the prices. He could’ve done a lot of things. But essentially what he does is grant loans of currency so that the assets, the property assets of the nation were slowly transferred, not as a permanent sale, but on some value. Let’s just say a particular animal was worth fifty bucks and Joseph would grant the value of that fifty dollars to the owner of the particular animal and would be paid back over some sequence of time.

Instead of seeking aggrandizement, Joseph does the opposite and rules from a right heart.Click To Tweet

Well, of course, during this particular time there is no money, there is no way to bring it back, so essentially they’re bartering. Ownership of the livestock was transferred to the government during that period of time. Think of what this does to the government’s ego. Under normal circumstances, that would’ve put them in total control of everything. Liens were granted against the property. Land became the property of the king. Population became essentially an indentured population.

Now, please, let’s get this setting in your mind. At this time in history, Egypt was roughly from the Nile in what we would think of as the northern side of Egypt, all the way down into central Africa near the second cataract of Victoria Falls—roughly about a thousand mile strip, runs about a hundred miles east and west. As near as we can calculate, the population would have been around fifty million people in the land of Egypt at this period in time. Well, that’s bigger than most countries today; pretty good size territory.

So, the good will that is built up during this time is rather significant. Nobody complains. We’re not hearing any kind of revolt; not hearing any kind of a riot or anything of that nature, not even implied in the Scriptures at all. The population becomes, for all practical purposes, well, they owe everything. All of their livelihood, all of their cattle, all of their land is now in some way or another indentured to the royal family.

We are so focused on short-term issues but God is never focused on short-term things.Click To Tweet

We get so wrapped up in the momentary issues—who’s getting elected or not elected, whether our 401ks are growing or not, what happens to the stock market today. We are so focused on short-term issues and God is never focused on short-term things; He’s always focused on the long-term. He always has His mind on what’s coming for eternity.

God is always focused on the long-term. He always has His mind on eternal things.Click To Tweet

* What role would the family of Israel play in Egypt’s economy?
* How did the rule of Joseph compare to that of Pharaoh?
* What happened when the money ran out in Egypt?
* How was Joseph wise in his rule during the famine?
* What application can we take away from Joseph as a faithful, obedient, and wise leader?

When the money runs out, and it did after about a year and a half, we seem to calculate from the biblical data, he could’ve inflated the prices. He could’ve done a lot of things. But essentially what he does is grant loans of currency so that the assets, the property assets of the nation were slowly transferred, not as a permanent sale, but on some value. Let’s just say a particular animal was worth fifty bucks and Joseph would grant the value of that fifty dollars to the owner of the particular animal and would be paid back over some sequence of time.

Instead of seeking aggrandizement, Joseph does the opposite and rules from a right heart.Click To Tweet

Well, of course, during this particular time there is no money, there is no way to bring it back, so essentially they’re bartering. Ownership of the livestock was transferred to the government during that period of time. Think of what this does to the government’s ego. Under normal circumstances, that would’ve put them in total control of everything. Liens were granted against the property. Land became the property of the king. Population became essentially an indentured population.
Now, please, let’s get this setting in your mind. At this time in history, Egypt was roughly from the Nile in what we would think of as the northern side of Egypt, all the way down into central Africa near the second cataract of Victoria Falls—roughly about a thousand mile strip, runs about a hundred miles east and west. As near as we can calculate, the population would have been around fifty million people in the land of Egypt at this period in time. Well, that’s bigger than most countries today; pretty good size territory.
So, the good will that is built up during this time is rather significant. Nobody complains. We’re not hearing any kind of revolt; not hearing any kind of a riot or anything of that nature, not even implied in the Scriptures at all. The population becomes, for all practical purposes, well, they owe everything. All of their livelihood, all of their cattle, all of their land is now in some way or another indentured to the royal family.

We are so focused on short-term issues but God is never focused on short-term things.Click To Tweet

Seventy was this initial number of the nations established by God back in Genesis chapter 10. This is the event where, at the Tower of Babel, the languages were broken up by God, and He lists seventy families that were the core of these seventy different languages. Later on, seventy elders would be identified in the time of Moses. Seventy years of captivity—surely you’ll remember these major sequences. Seventy weeks in the prophecy of Daniel would be determined on people. Seventy was the number of the Sanhedrin—that was the ruling body of the elders of Israel at the time of the Lord Jesus. And the Lord identifies seventy who would be His witnesses during His earthly ministry. I just picked these out because I thought they would be familiar to you.

That sort of sets the stage now, not only in physical reality, but in a prophetic relationship that God is starting something that is intended to be the place, the nations, the people through whom the rest of the world will be related to in one way or another. And here we are, four thousand years from that point in time, and turn on your six o’clock news and you will find Israel somewhere in the batch almost every day. The entire world is still focused on this tiny, little, old nation on the edge of the Mediterranean Sea, about the size of New Jersey. And one wonders sometimes: Why all the focus?

The entire world is still focused on this tiny, little, old nation of Israel.Click To Tweet

Now, Jacob moves into Goshen. He’s met by Judah. Joseph is in the capital city of On. They have a visa permit really, but they have to be nationalized. So, in all of this process, all of the political format of the day was followed, and, for all practical purposes, they are invited but not officially sanctioned. So, they’re given the right to come into the town. It would be like our folks coming into Ellis Island or something like that. This is kind of the starting point. Jacob is told by Joseph that “you need to proclaim your identity as shepherds.” Now, we have coined that term—or more related to that term in terms of sheep—but that was the general term at the day for just “ranchers” taking care of cattle of any kind. They were considered a lowly occupation by the Egyptians. They were, of course, necessary to feed the country.

But the problem here was that in the religious structure of Egypt, one of the major rituals was personal hygiene. Now, maybe you don’t—if you go to Egypt today, you won’t find that to be the case, as a matter of fact, but back in those days the religious overtones of personal purity were an idea of sort of religious purity. But because the ranching occupation made you live in the fields and be dirty and dusty all the time, of course the nobility, the ruling class, would consider that beneath their dignity and kept them from being pure people. Now, they were anything but pure.

Shepherds were considered a lowly occupation by the Egyptians.Click To Tweet

Please remember, even in the context of all of this favor that God is showing on the nation of Egypt, Egypt is a very pagan, in many ways a very wicked country. As a matter of fact, the Scripture identifies Egypt as the first of the major seven heads of the dragon of satanic influence in world history. Even during that time, and even under those conditions, God is working out His will. I call this an OCD cleanliness. They bathed at least once a day, sometimes several times in their ritual things. Usually, they would shave themselves; all those sorts of things. Joseph understood that if his people were to be protected, they would have to be segregated and separated physically as well as spiritually from the influence of the nation.

Even during that time, and even under those conditions, God was working out His will.Click To Tweet

So, they’re taken before Pharaoh to give them a formal permission. Pharaoh grants the best of the land and he says to Jacob—who’s now one hundred and thirty years old, standing before the greatest monarch in all of the history at the time—“What are you doing? What’s your job? What’s your relationship?” “Well, we’re shepherds; we’re ranchers.” So, Pharaoh knows the situation, and he simply says, “Alright, if you’ve got any men of activity”—I love that phrase—“find those men of activity and make them head of my personal ranches.”

Now, if you’ll remember the sequel to this over the next five years, the famine has just been two years in time; five years yet to come. Over the next five years, all of the cattle become Pharaoh’s cattle. So for all purposes, Pharaoh was setting up a relationship with Jacob and his family to be the managers of his wealth. The skip from Genesis chapter 50 to Exodus chapter 1 is an enormous shift from one of tremendous authority and relationship and wealth to a nation of slavery. And it seems like in God’s perspective, it’s the blink of an eye; in historical terms, it was four hundred years.

From God’s perspective it seems like the blink of an eye; in historical terms it was 400 years.Click To Tweet

]]>
How God Provided for a Family of Shepherds in a Pagan Land
Listen to the audio:
Subscribe to Podcast: iTunes | Android | Google Play | RSS
Israel Enters Egypt
In this episode:

*
Get answers to the following study questions:

* Where were all of Jacob’s sons located prior to the move to Egypt?
* What promise had God made to Abraham regarding the nation of Israel?
* Who were the seventy “souls” of Israel that entered Egypt?
* Why were shepherds offensive to the Egyptians?
* How did the ranching occupation of Israel benefit them in the short term?

And we’re told now that there are seventy—the Bible says “souls”—that are identified by name that are leaving Canaan and going into Egypt and it’s these seventy that become the genetic pool from which the nation of Israel is formed. So, there they are listed, and they are on your notes, of course: Fifty-one grandsons, four great-grandsons, one daughter, and one great-granddaughter are listed in this seventy groups—that includes, of course, Joseph and his two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh. One of the things that’s interesting about Scripture is how God uses numbers to identify certain things. Now, don’t get all excited about this because people have really overdone this, but this is quite interesting when you look at the way these figures keep popping up.

It is these 70 that become the genetic pool from which the nation of Israel is formed.Click To Tweet

Seventy was this initial number of the nations established by God back in Genesis chapter 10. This is the event where, at the Tower of Babel, the languages were broken up by God, and He lists seventy families that were the core of these seventy different languages. Later on, seventy elders would be identified in the time of Moses. Seventy years of captivity—surely you’ll remember these major sequences. Seventy weeks in the prophecy of Daniel would be determined on people. Seventy was the number of the Sanhedrin—that was the ruling body of the elders of Israel at the time of the Lord Jesus. And the Lord identifies seventy who would be His witnesses during His earthly ministry. I just picked these out because I thought they would be familiar to you.
That sort of sets the stage now, not only in physical reality, but in a prophetic relationship that God is starting something that is intended to be the place, the nations, the people through whom the rest of the world will be related to in one way or another. And here we are, four thousand years from that point in time,]]>Dr. Henry M. Morris IIIclean12:31Episode 51: The Right Kind of Leader [Podcast]http://www.henrymorris3.com/leader/
Wed, 27 Jul 2016 21:06:39 +0000http://www.henrymorris3.com/?p=2639http://www.henrymorris3.com/leader/#respondhttp://www.henrymorris3.com/leader/feed/0<p>One man did his job well. He focused on being the right kind of leader. Listen to this episode and find God’s sovereignty in action through Joseph and the family of Israel in Egypt. Listen to the audio: Subscribe to Podcast: iTunes | Android | Google Play | RSS The Right Kind of Leader In […]</p>
<p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.henrymorris3.com/leader/">Episode 51: The Right Kind of Leader [Podcast]</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.henrymorris3.com">Dr. Henry M. Morris III</a>.</p>One man did his job well. He focused on being the right kind of leader. Listen to this episode and find God’s sovereignty in action through Joseph and the family of Israel in Egypt.

Source: Wikipedia; Joseph Makes Himself Known to His Brethren by Gustave Doré (Engraving from the 1865 La Sainte Bible) (public domain)

So, here’s when Joseph essentially loses it and begins to weep uncontrollably. “I’m your brother. I’m Joseph. Does my father still live?” Notice the little downplay in the Scriptures: “The brothers could not answer him for they were dismayed in his presence.” Can you imagine what was going on here? Here is the prime minister of Egypt sobbing uncontrollably and telling them that “I’m your brother, the one you sold into Egypt.” Can you imagine their response? “Please come near to me.” Can you imagine how afraid they were? What in the world is happening here? “I’m Joseph, your brother whom you sold into Egypt.” BANG! BANG! BANG! Wow. Sometimes conviction is hard.

Well, these are all grown men. They don’t know what’s happening except that this is out of their control. The prime minister’s publicly sobbing. He has brought to their mind everything that has happened in the past. Can you imagine what they look like? Can you imagine all of the servers now, all of the entourage watching this going on? This was anevent! I bet they talk about this thing on the six o’clock news for several days. It was a big deal.

Well, this was Joseph, the teenager they’d planned to murder. He now stood in front of them as the prime minister of all of Egypt and the horrible thought that he had known all about this for the two years that they had been gone and had planned all of it. God’s plan all along, God was in charge in all of this time where they had been ignoring God, not paying any attention to what was going on, thought they had got away with the slavery incident. God was in charge during all of these times.

God was in charge during all of this, even when they were ignoring Him.Click To Tweet

But trouble was still brewing; five years left in the famine time. Joseph said, “God had put me here to protect you,” and now makes the formal offer essentially to keep and protect the family in Egypt. Pharaoh is now told. Now, they’re living in two different cities. Pharaoh is given the news. And Pharaoh not only endorses what Joseph has done, but essentially becomes very excited and says, in effect, “Man, whatever they need, let’s get them here. This is Joseph’s family.” Would to God there was that kind of reception today! But you know why there was that reception? Because one man did his job well and was focused on being the right kind of leader for twenty years.

One man did his job well and was focused on being the right kind of leader for twenty years.Click To Tweet

Egypt will provide everything the family could need—land and grain for the family’s enterprise, given all the supplies necessary to go home. In fact, they were given the carts that were necessary to bring all their family back. Everything was given to them. When God opens the windows, it is fully opened and the supply is complete. This is the way that scene ends. Pharaoh says, “See that you do not become troubled along the way.” I love that. All of this coming to fruition where God has completed His tasks now, His initial plan is done, and the family of Israel is now in Egypt.

When God opens the windows, it is fully opened and the supply is complete.Click To Tweet

]]>Conviction, Provision, and God's Sovereignty
Listen to the audio:
Subscribe to Podcast: iTunes | Android | Google Play | RSS
The Right Kind of Leader
In this episode:

*
Learn more about Israel’s family dynamics

*
Find out the importance of Benjamin to Israel

*
Get answers to the following study questions:

* Why was Jacob grieved over Benjamin and not Simeon?
* Why did Joseph conceal his true identity?
* What is the significance of Jacob’s name change to Israel?
* How can we know that Joseph was the right kind of leader?
* What can we develop as application from Joseph as a leader?

So, here’s when Joseph essentially loses it and begins to weep uncontrollably. “I’m your brother. I’m Joseph. Does my father still live?” Notice the little downplay in the Scriptures: “The brothers could not answer him for they were dismayed in his presence.” Can you imagine what was going on here? Here is the prime minister of Egypt sobbing uncontrollably and telling them that “I’m your brother, the one you sold into Egypt.” Can you imagine their response? “Please come near to me.” Can you imagine how afraid they were? What in the world is happening here? “I’m Joseph, your brother whom you sold into Egypt.” BANG! BANG! BANG! Wow. Sometimes conviction is hard.

Well, these are all grown men. They don’t know what’s happening except that this is out of their control. The prime minister’s publicly sobbing. He has brought to their mind everything that has happened in the past. Can you imagine what they look like? Can you imagine all of the servers now, all of the entourage watching this going on? This was an event! I bet they talk about this thing on the six o’clock news for several days. It was a big deal.
Well, this was Joseph, the teenager they’d planned to murder. He now stood in front of them as the prime minister of all of Egypt and the horrible thought that he had known all about this for the two years that they had been gone and had planned all of it. God’s plan all along, God was in charge in all of this time where they had been ignoring God, not paying any attention to what was going on, thought they had got away with the slavery incident. God was in charge during all of these times.

God was in charge during all of this, even when they were ignoring Him.Click To Tweet

But trouble was still brewing; five years left in the famine time. Joseph said,]]>Dr. Henry M. Morris IIIclean12:48Episode 50: Feast or Famine [Podcast]http://www.henrymorris3.com/feast-or-famine/
Wed, 20 Jul 2016 11:00:46 +0000http://www.henrymorris3.com/?p=2516http://www.henrymorris3.com/feast-or-famine/#respondhttp://www.henrymorris3.com/feast-or-famine/feed/0<p>Feast or famine! The world experienced both surplus and scarcity during the time of Joseph’s rule in Egypt. Listen to this episode to see how God used a seven-year famine to accomplish His plan for the nation of Israel. Listen to the audio: Subscribe to Podcast: iTunes | Android | Google Play | RSS Feast or […]</p>
<p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.henrymorris3.com/feast-or-famine/">Episode 50: Feast or Famine [Podcast]</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.henrymorris3.com">Dr. Henry M. Morris III</a>.</p>Feast or famine! The world experienced both surplus and scarcity during the time of Joseph’s rule in Egypt. Listen to this episode to see how God used a seven-year famine to accomplish His plan for the nation of Israel.

What application can we glean from Joseph’s example of handling feast or famine?

When the seven years of bumper crops throughout the land of Egypt came to an end, the seven years of famine began. The famine also struck all the surrounding countries, including the land where Joseph’s brothers lived, but throughout Egypt there was plenty of food. – Slide 6 [Source: Original illustrations copyright of Sweet Publishing/FreeBibleimages. Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported license via Sweet Publishing/FreeBibleimages.org.]

Governmental income—we would think of that as the tax base—the governmental income was two-fold: It was twenty percent flat tax from the time of the years of plenty—even during the time of famine, everything was kept at a twenty percent tax base—provided for all of the national functions.

The population during the time of famine was able to get by on much less.

It’s interesting how human nature really—what is it, somebody says, “Once you’ve tasted a good glass of wine, milk tastes awful”? Well, the point is, once you get used to having good things it’s awful hard to go back to ordinary things.

The famine was not just centered in Egypt; it was all over the Near East.Click To Tweet

But this twenty percent flat tax—no, I’m not advocating a flat tax; please don’t get that from me. But I’m just telling you this is the model that God endorses through the life of Joseph and it was sufficient to deal with the greatest nation in history at that time.

Sufficient to feed the nation, to supply—well, if you know the story, the famine was not just centered in Egypt; it was all over what we would think of as the Near East of that day.

What wound up happening is that the wealth of nations (plural) began to be bought and purchased by the nation of Egypt.

The words of Scripture are never incidental.

The Bible says, “Every word of God is pure. Do not add to it or take away from it. They’re like gold tried in the furnace seven times.”

Every word is precisely what the Holy Spirit wanted there in that context. And in this history of Joseph there’s tremendous insight.

This was one of the worst depressions in world history.

When you go back and look back at secular records from those days and get the insight even from those braggadocios Pharaohs that followed, the horrible depression of our 1920s and 30s was a cakewalk compared to what they were going through during that period of time. Most of us are moaning and groaning about what happened to our 401ks in 2008.

I’ve got news for you: That was nothing compared to the fact that nothing grew, nothing worked. The entire economy was shut down for seven years!

The sale of goods was a model of how this is supposed to work. It transferred the wealth of many nations to Egypt.

Here’s how God seems to instruct Joseph.

Bread—that was the normal, what we would think of as the consumables of the day—was not given away; it was sold by the government to the people who wanted it.

Instead of going down to Kroger or just to Walmart, there was a government store and you went to the government store and bought your bread or your peas or your chicken in a pot.

You bought that from the government because that time there was nothing functioning. All of it was stored in the granaries and in the cattle that the government owned by purchase rights.

When the land was gone, guess what? The government made jobs for them.Click To Tweet

When the money ran out, the cattle that they owned were traded for necessities. When the cattle were gone, the land was sold.

Now, remember the buyer is the government; the seller is the people. There’s no welfare; nothing like that going on. Yes, there were people that needed help and yes, they were undergirded by the government of the day.

If you read the secular accounts from that period of time, they were not heartless, but it was not a giveaway program.

When the land was gone, guess what? The government made jobs for them, but notice that was the last thing that was done.

Everything was preserved by God for the nation of Israel. It was in God’s long plan here.Click To Tweet

The summary verse is in the last chapter of the book of Genesis. Everything was preserved by God for the nation of Israel. It was in God’s long plan here.

He had already told Abraham two generations prior to this that His people would be captive in the land of Egypt for four hundred years. Joseph knew that and Joseph was responding in response to the vision that God had provided through prophecy.

Today we have that prophecy recorded in Scripture and we can look to the operational manual, if you will. It’s recorded for us and we know the end game as well as the short game.

Joseph said, “Do not be afraid for am I in the place of God? But as for you, you meant it evil against me, but God meant it for good. In order to bring it about as it is this day to save many people alive.”

Another little note: The number of people that came from Canaan into Egypt, counting Joseph and his family, were seventy people. Four hundred years later there were millions that left in the Exodus!

After the governmental years are over and the famine begins, apparently within the first few months of this famine, Jacob essentially says, “Well, we’ve got to go down to Egypt because that’s where food is.”

You meant it evil against me, but God meant it for good.Click To Tweet

Do you remember the first dream that Joseph had?

The first dream was that all eleven of his brothers would bow down before him and here it is coming to fruition some twenty years after God had given him the vision. Don’t miss that.

Sometimes God’s insight comes long before the event happens.

Here Joseph, now fully acclimated as an Egyptian, as an Egyptian ruler, now sitting in charge of all of the nation, now sees his eleven brothers bowing down on their faces before him.

Sometimes God seems like He’s holding back.

“The Lord is slow to anger and great in power but will not at all acquit the wicked.”

There’s another little verse my father used to quote to me when I was a snotty teenager. It’s in Numbers.

“Be sure your sins will find you out.”

Oh boy, I hated that verse. Yeah, God knows; He sure does.

Sometimes God’s insight comes long before the event happens.Click To Tweet

]]>How God Used a Famine to Accomplish His Plan for Israel
Listen to the audio:
Subscribe to Podcast: iTunes | Android | Google Play | RSS
Feast or Famine
In this episode:

*
Learn more about the merit of Egypt’s tax structure

*
Uncover God’s providence through feast or famine

*
Get answers to the following study questions:

* How did Egypt’s flat tax allow the government to function?
* What was Joseph’s role during the years of plenty?
* How do we see dreams fulfilled in this historical account?
* What was God’s purpose during this season of Joseph’s life?
* What application can we glean from Joseph’s example of handling feast or famine?

Governmental income—we would think of that as the tax base—the governmental income was two-fold: It was twenty percent flat tax from the time of the years of plenty—even during the time of famine, everything was kept at a twenty percent tax base—provided for all of the national functions.
The population during the time of famine was able to get by on much less.
It’s interesting how human nature really—what is it, somebody says, “Once you’ve tasted a good glass of wine, milk tastes awful”? Well, the point is, once you get used to having good things it’s awful hard to go back to ordinary things.

The famine was not just centered in Egypt; it was all over the Near East.Click To Tweet

But this twenty percent flat tax—no, I’m not advocating a flat tax; please don’t get that from me. But I’m just telling you this is the model that God endorses through the life of Joseph and it was sufficient to deal with the greatest nation in history at that time.
Sufficient to feed the nation, to supply—well, if you know the story, the famine was not just centered in Egypt; it was all over what we would think of as the Near East of that day.
What wound up happening is that the wealth of nations (plural) began to be bought and purchased by the nation of Egypt.

The words of Scripture are never incidental.
The Bible says, “Every word of God is pure. Do not add to it or take away from it. They’re like gold tried in the furnace seven times.”
Every word is precisely what the Holy Spirit wanted there in that context. And in this history of Joseph there’s tremendous insight.
This was one of the worst depressions in world history.
When you go back and look back at secular records from those days and get the insight even from those braggadocios Pharaohs that followed, the horrible depression of our 1920s and 30s was a cakewalk compared to what they were going thr...]]>Dr. Henry M. Morris IIIclean12:48Episode 49: Joseph Governs Egypt [Podcast]http://www.henrymorris3.com/egypt/
Wed, 13 Jul 2016 11:00:25 +0000http://www.henrymorris3.com/?p=2474http://www.henrymorris3.com/egypt/#commentshttp://www.henrymorris3.com/egypt/feed/2<p>Genesis widens up with almost twelve chapters on Joseph. So, he’s a pretty important guy. We’ve already spent one session looking at his life as he enters into Egypt. You know the basic story. He becomes the prime minister, essentially number two. But let’s make sure we get the context here once again. Tune in […]</p>
<p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.henrymorris3.com/egypt/">Episode 49: Joseph Governs Egypt [Podcast]</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.henrymorris3.com">Dr. Henry M. Morris III</a>.</p>Genesis widens up with almost twelve chapters on Joseph. So, he’s a pretty important guy. We’ve already spent one session looking at his life as he enters into Egypt. You know the basic story. He becomes the prime minister, essentially number two. But let’s make sure we get the context here once again. Tune in to this episode to see what happened after Joseph interpreted Pharaoh’s dreams.

Now, remember he was sold into slavery when he was seventeen; he’s been thirteen years in combination of Potiphar’s house and prison.

At thirty years old—that’s an interesting number, by the way. Of the few records that we have about the major leaders throughout Scripture, that seems to be the number that God sort of pegs as the beginning of serious maturity.

David was thirty years old.

John the Baptist was thirty years old.

The Lord Jesus was thirty years old.

Daniel was thirty years old.

So, you have all of these interesting parallels in Scripture. My father drew the conclusion that that’s how old we will be forever is thirty years old. I think that’s a good number. I like that.

My father drew the conclusion that that’s how old we will be forever—thirty years old.Click To Tweet

So, he begins to rule.

The first thing he does is get a new name. Now, I’ve tried a hundred times to pronounce that correctly and every time I do it I get a different pronunciation. Zaphnath-Paaneah, I think.

Joseph is named “Abundance of Life, Savior of the World, Revealer of Secrets, God’s Word Speaking Life, Furnisher of Substance.” We don’t know for sure, but anyway, he’s “top dog, super dude,” all rolled up in one.

Joseph is given the double blessing; his children Ephraim and Manasseh become tribes in Israel.Click To Tweet

He’s now in charge of the nation and he’s given a new wife. Really interesting here, all the political interchanges that are going on.

She is the daughter of the priest of the city of On. Now, On is the city of Heliopolis really. It is in the northeast section of what we think of as Cairo today—one of the oldest cities in the Egyptian background history.

Her name is Asenath. It sort of means “Dedicated to Neith,” and Neith is the Egyptian equivalent of Minerva, one of the Roman gods.

God sovereignly uses Joseph as sort of the connector of history.Click To Tweet

Two sons out of this marriage: Ephraim and Manasseh. And Ephraim and Manasseh—if you’ll remember your biblical history—become two tribes in the nation of Israel.

Of the twelve sons of Jacob, Joseph is one of the twelve sons. There is no tribe named Joseph, but Joseph is given the double blessing and his two children Ephraim and Manasseh become tribes in Israel.

Joseph remains faithful to Elohim through all of these events in Egypt.Click To Tweet

Levi becomes a thirteenth tribe, for all practical purposes. They become the administrators of the tabernacle and the temple and they don’t have the ability to own property throughout the nation as a result of their sin in the city of Shechem. We’ve already talked about that a little bit.

Dan, who does have identification in history, will never be reconstituted in eternity; but Joseph will.

When we get to the book of Revelation, we see the things of eternity. The tribes that are listed there include the tribe of Joseph.

For whatever reason, God in His sovereignty, uses Joseph as sort of the connector of history and reconstitutes him in eternity.

One of the first responsibilities of anybody in leadership is to know what they’re leading.Click To Tweet

So, he adapts to the circumstances now.

Remember he’s been, for all practical purposes, a very significant slave, but a slave nonetheless, promoted instantly to number two. The only parallel in Scripture really is Daniel.

So, we have this interesting shift here. He remains faithful to Elohim all through this. You see him repeating that particularly in the interchange with his brothers.

He learns to live within the culture, he speaks the language, he adapts to the requirements of being a national leader.

By the way, folks, it is possible to be a political leader and still be godly.

It’s getting more and more rare to find such people, but it is indeed certainly within the capability of what God allows people to do, and throughout history He’s always had His folks in positions of responsibility.

By the way, folks, it is possible to be a political leader and still be godly.Click To Tweet

The focus of the government during the time of Egypt was essentially to build a storehouse of the surplus during the times of plenty.

It’s interesting that throughout Scripture, and even throughout history we see that during the times of plenty, and there are always cycles in history, if you know anything about history you’ll know that there are good times and bad times; it’s just a constant cycle.

What happens in the good times is people squander rather than use. They become greedy rather than focused on the bad times.

Even in the book of Proverbs, Solomon says, “Now, go look at the ant. Look what that little critter does. During the summertime he pulls in the extra and stores up for the winter when there isn’t any food.”

And, of course, that is the principle that God teaches and lays down in the life of Joseph.

Many people squander resources during good times; we ought to imitate the godliness of Joseph.Click To Tweet

]]>How God Used a Thirty Year Old to Change the Worldone session looking at his life as he enters into Egypt. You know the basic story. He becomes the prime minister, essentially number two. But let’s make sure we get the context here once again. Tune in to this episode to see what happened after Joseph interpreted Pharaoh’s dreams.
Listen to the audio:
Subscribe to Podcast: iTunes | Android | Google Play | RSS
Joseph Governs Egypt
In this episode:

*
Learn more about God’s plan for Egypt and the rest of the world

*
Discover the significance of Joseph’s age

*
Get answers to the following study questions:

* Why did Pharaoh choose Joseph to govern Egypt?
* What other biblical figures parallel Joseph?
* What changes occurred to Joseph’s status in Egypt?
* Why was Joseph not considered a tribe of Israel? What was the associated blessing?
* What role should followers of God fill in politics and government?

Joseph was thirty years old.
Now, remember he was sold into slavery when he was seventeen; he’s been thirteen years in combination of Potiphar’s house and prison.
At thirty years old—that’s an interesting number, by the way. Of the few records that we have about the major leaders throughout Scripture, that seems to be the number that God sort of pegs as the beginning of serious maturity.

* David was thirty years old.
* John the Baptist was thirty years old.
* The Lord Jesus was thirty years old.
* Daniel was thirty years old.

So, you have all of these interesting parallels in Scripture. My father drew the conclusion that that’s how old we will be forever is thirty years old. I think that’s a good number. I like that.

My father drew the conclusion that that’s how old we will be forever—thirty years old.Click To Tweet

So, he begins to rule.
The first thing he does is get a new name. Now, I’ve tried a hundred times to pronounce that correctly and every time I do it I get a different pronunciation. Zaphnath-Paaneah, I think.
Joseph is named “Abundance of Life, Savior of the World, Revealer of Secrets, God’s Word Speaking Life, Furnisher of Substance.” We don’t know for sure, but anyway, he’s “top dog, super dude,” all rolled up in one.

Joseph is given the double blessing; his children Ephraim and Manasseh become tribes in Israel.Click To Tweet

He’s now in charge of the nation and he’s given a new wife. Really interesting here, all the political interchanges that are going on.
She is the daughter of the priest of the city of On. Now, On is the city of Heliopolis really.]]>Dr. Henry M. Morris IIIclean12:48Episode 48: Dream Interpretation [Podcast]http://www.henrymorris3.com/dream-interpretation/
Wed, 06 Jul 2016 11:00:26 +0000http://www.henrymorris3.com/?p=2408http://www.henrymorris3.com/dream-interpretation/#commentshttp://www.henrymorris3.com/dream-interpretation/feed/3<p>Joseph’s life was marked by significant dreams. During his thirteen years as a slave in Egypt, Joseph was given the ability to interpret the dreams of several VIPs. Instead of taking personal credit for dream interpretation, Joseph gave glory to God for this amazing gift. Listen to this showcase of God working through Joseph to […]</p>
<p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.henrymorris3.com/dream-interpretation/">Episode 48: Dream Interpretation [Podcast]</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.henrymorris3.com">Dr. Henry M. Morris III</a>.</p>Joseph’s life was marked by significant dreams. During his thirteen years as a slave in Egypt, Joseph was given the ability to interpret the dreams of several VIPs. Instead of taking personal credit for dream interpretation, Joseph gave glory to God for this amazing gift. Listen to this showcase of God working through Joseph to do what Pharaoh’s magicians couldn’t do.

So, one night Pharaoh has two back-to-back dreams. Two years later, by the way, Pharaoh has these back-to-back dreams.

He just cannot sleep. He has these terrible dreams and he doesn’t know what they mean. He’s really disturbed by them.

The first dream he sees seven very beautiful cattle of some sort; very fat and very healthy. And then immediately seven others come behind them and eat up the very fat and healthy cattle.

Now, obviously this is a rather interesting dream. Pharaoh doesn’t know what it means and he’s very disturbed by it; and he walks around for a while.

All of this occurs in one night and Pharaoh is somewhat agitated as a result of this.Click To Tweet

And he has a second dream. And in the second dream he sees seven heads of grain—probably wheat, although we don’t know for sure—but certainly very healthy; they’re full and sweet and blossoming out of one stalk, perhaps like corn.

An east wind starts blowing and then seven very thin heads come out of this east wind and devour the seven plump and full heads.

All of this occurs in one night and you can imagine that Pharaoh is somewhat agitated as a result of this.

“It’s not in me to do this; this is God’s gift. Any glory to be gained should go to God.”Click To Tweet

So, he called for all of his magicians, all of his soothsayers, all of his wise men, everybody that’s on the court who has any kind of position of authority, and he says, “Here are my dreams. Tell me what they mean.”

And they couldn’t.

And now the butler says, “Oh my, I forgot!” And the way the Bible phrases this, “I do remember my sins this day.” And he tells Pharaoh of Joseph, who interpreted the dreams for him.

It is interesting, once again, just as in the incident with Potiphar’s wife, the first thing out of Joseph’s mouth is “it’s not in me to do this; this is God’s gift. And if there’s any glory to be gained, it should go to God.”

And he uses, of course, the general name Elohim. Pharaoh would have known about it; certainly would have known of this very wealthy group back up in Canaan.

Pharaoh would have known about the name Elohim and Joseph’s wealthy family in Canaan.Click To Tweet

Pharaoh recalls the dreams and he now emphasizes these terrible things. He’s never seen anything so ugly as these cattle; never seen anything so withered as these terrible heads of grain.

“What in the world is going to be happening because of this? Everybody doesn’t know what’s going on here. I might fire the whole bunch. They’re all idiots.” I can hear him saying that just as much as I was there in the court.

Joseph says, “Well, here’s what God says. ‘There will be seven years of great plenty followed by seven years of famine throughout all the land of Egypt.’ Elohim has ordered this and it will come soon.”

Joseph about the dreams: “Elohim has ordered this and it will come soon.”Click To Tweet

Now, remember where Joseph is. He’s just come up out of prison.

The Bible does say, “Before he came to Pharaoh’s court, they bathed him and clothed him in proper clothing; put him before Pharaoh.”

All of the entourage of the magicians and the soothsayers and the who’s who in the zoo—they’re all there.

And Joseph now says, “Here’s God’s dream. It’s given to you because you’re the head of Egypt. And it’s going to happen really, really quickly. We’re going to have seven years of plenty and seven years of famine. And you should appoint a man of wisdom who has administrative skills over this task and appoint officers underneath him to carry out the plan. And, by the way, tax twenty percent of the profit.”

Guys, every time I look back into history and see the way governments are run, this is the most efficient form of government that I’ve ever found anywhere!

This was God’s advice to the major nation at the time. Pharaoh listened to it, of course.Click To Tweet

Some of you are paying a lot more than twenty percent tax. Now, you do all kinds of things to avoid it. And we fight a flat tax like a house fire or something.

But in this was God’s advice to the major nation at the time. Pharaoh listened to it, of course.

Joseph said, “Store the surplus. Prevent starvation in the future. The strength of the nation will be ensured. The civilized world will come to your doors wanting food and you can sell it to them. And buy their nations.”

Interesting. Joseph gives Pharaoh a plan for a dynasty and an empire that was second to none.

“When the righteous enter authority,” the Scripture says, “the people rejoice; when the wicked man rules, the people groan.” There’s an awful lot of stuff in these little incidences.

Joseph gives Pharaoh a plan for a dynasty and an empire that was second to none.Click To Tweet

But when God gives us an illustration like this, He gives us insight into the way He thinks about human nature, about nations, about His plans.

And here God intended to set in place a plan to preserve the Jewish nation—at that time, we find out later, was seventy people. That’s what the nation of Jews was at that time, seventy people! And God set in place a plan that would care for them for the next four hundred years.

Yes, some of those years were in slavery, but when they left Egypt four hundred years later they left with millions and with wealth uncounted.

God knew all of this.

God set in place a plan to preserve the Jewish nation for the next four hundred years!Click To Tweet

Remember Peter says something like this: “A day is with the Lord like a thousand years or a thousand years like one day.”

He’s not time bound. He doesn’t think in terms of days and years. He goes way beyond that into the plan of eternity.

Maybe, just maybe, some of the things that are happening in your lives are just part of a long range plan.

One of the things God insists that we do is plan for the future, not just for today. We get so caught up on the things of the day.

Joseph is one of these fewmen in Scriptures who seems to have in his heart the ability to sense the longer thing and to use the opportunities that God has provided for him for the benefit of millions.

Some of the things that are happening in your lives are just part of a long range plan.Click To Tweet

Now think of this just a minute: He gave Pharaoh a plan to salvage Egypt!

He could have done it by saying, “Now, here’s the meaning of the dream. I want a couple of million bucks and a house of my own.” He could have done all those things and Pharaoh would have probably given it to him.

But rather than that, he simply says in generic terms, “Find a guy who has enough wisdom and administrative skills to oversee this.”

Guess what happens. The Pharaoh says, “Goodness gracious! Are we going to find anybody better than this?”

And his whole court agreed, because they saw in Joseph a man whose heart was not focused on himself, but focused on the value of eternity.

They saw in Joseph a man whose heart was not focused on himself, but on the value of eternity.Click To Tweet

“When the righteous are in authority, people rejoice; when the wicked rule, oh boy….” That should strike a chord here pretty close.

There have been seasons in history where righteous men have ruled.

And God has prospered both the nation and the people.

There have been seasons in history where wicked have ruled.

Read through the Old Testament and find times where there were actually centuries where wicked men were in charge, God was still working on His plan.

We need to get a longer sight and a longer vision.

When the righteous enter authority, people rejoice; when the wicked rules, people groan.Click To Tweet

]]>What Magicians, Soothsayers, and Wise Men Couldn't Do
Listen to the audio:
Subscribe to Podcast: iTunes | Android | Google Play | RSS
Dream Interpretation
In this episode:

*
Learn about Pharaoh’s Chief Butler and Chief Baker

*
Discover the significance of dreams and dream interpretation in Scripture

*
Get answers to the following study questions:

* Why were the Chief Butler and Chief Baker imprisoned?
* What did the prisoners’ dreams mean?
* When Joseph interpreted Pharaoh’s dreams, what were the first words out of his mouth?
* Why is this segment on dream interpretation important to study?
* How does this segment of history reveal God’s sovereignty over human government?

So, one night Pharaoh has two back-to-back dreams. Two years later, by the way, Pharaoh has these back-to-back dreams.
He just cannot sleep. He has these terrible dreams and he doesn’t know what they mean. He’s really disturbed by them.
The first dream he sees seven very beautiful cattle of some sort; very fat and very healthy. And then immediately seven others come behind them and eat up the very fat and healthy cattle.
Now, obviously this is a rather interesting dream. Pharaoh doesn’t know what it means and he’s very disturbed by it; and he walks around for a while.

All of this occurs in one night and Pharaoh is somewhat agitated as a result of this.Click To Tweet

And he has a second dream. And in the second dream he sees seven heads of grain—probably wheat, although we don’t know for sure—but certainly very healthy; they’re full and sweet and blossoming out of one stalk, perhaps like corn.
An east wind starts blowing and then seven very thin heads come out of this east wind and devour the seven plump and full heads.
All of this occurs in one night and you can imagine that Pharaoh is somewhat agitated as a result of this.

“It’s not in me to do this; this is God’s gift. Any glory to be gained should go to God.”Click To Tweet

So, he called for all of his magicians, all of his soothsayers, all of his wise men, everybody that’s on the court who has any kind of position of authority, and he says, “Here are my dreams. Tell me what they mean.”
And they couldn’t.
And now the butler says, “Oh my, I forgot!” And the way the Bible phrases this, “I do remember my sins this day.” And he tells Pharaoh of Joseph,]]>Dr. Henry M. Morris IIIclean12:46Episode 47: Temptation and Unjust Punishment [Podcast]http://www.henrymorris3.com/temptation/
Wed, 29 Jun 2016 11:00:37 +0000http://www.henrymorris3.com/?p=2391http://www.henrymorris3.com/temptation/#commentshttp://www.henrymorris3.com/temptation/feed/4<p>Joseph had proven himself to be a very capable businessman. He’s obviously known within the circles of Potiphar and many who were at Pharaoh’s court. He was entrusted with a position of leadership and responsibility. Potiphar’s wife enters the scene, vigorously seeking to seduce Joseph into great sin. In this episode, discover Joseph’s approach to […]</p>
<p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.henrymorris3.com/temptation/">Episode 47: Temptation and Unjust Punishment [Podcast]</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.henrymorris3.com">Dr. Henry M. Morris III</a>.</p>Joseph had proven himself to be a very capable businessman. He’s obviously known within the circles of Potiphar and many who were at Pharaoh’s court. He was entrusted with a position of leadership and responsibility. Potiphar’s wife enters the scene, vigorously seeking to seduce Joseph into great sin. In this episode, discover Joseph’s approach to temptation and unjust punishment.

Potiphar’s wife shows up really as a, well, she finally decides that she wants Joseph.

The information we get from the secular material of that era, that royal adultery was not condoned but tolerated. Mainly because most of the male personages of the royal court were eunuchs and the desire to perform the marriage rite was reduced, so in many cases the ladies themselves sought extracurricular amusements.

And she apparently became amused by Joseph, or was attempting to get amused by Joseph.

Joseph was very diplomatic, very gentle, and very gracious in all of this.Click To Tweet

Joseph responds very interesting—I’ve thought to myself, “Now, what would I do if I’m in this position and here’s the boss’ wife. She’s good-looking, she’s rich, and she wants me. What would I do?” Now the thought crosses my mind that I would get all spiritual.

Joseph doesn’t do that. He’s very diplomatic; he’s very gentle, very gracious in all of this.

And his response never was to berate or ridicule her, “You terrible lady, you! What in the world do you think you’re doing?” He puts it in the context of his service and his responsibility to Potiphar and the fact that she is his wife and she has a responsibility to him.

He puts it in the context of a spiritual commitment without going into any kind of a preaching service.

Joseph never berated Potiphar’s wife but refused her temptation from a spiritual perspective.Click To Tweet

I’ve always admired the way Joseph handles this situation.

It reminds me often that sometimes when we are faced with temptation, we must be very careful that we do it in a very gracious way to refuse the opportunity.

Do you remember the Lord says, “There’s no temptation that’s uncommon”? Everything that happens to you happens to everybody. But the Lord has made a way for us to escape with every single kind of incident that comes our way.

Joseph is certainly an example of that.

The Lord has made a way for us to escape every single temptation that comes our way.Click To Tweet

So, he refuses, of course.

She continues to badger him, evidently, “day by day,” the Scripture says; determined to have her way.

Apparently, she has to force him, and on the last day, apparently, that’s what she tried to do. She grabbed him by his coat and dragged him into the bedroom.

By arranging to have all of the servants gone, nobody’s in the house, and she now pursues him with full intent and vigor.

Joseph refused the seducing temptation of Potiphar’s wife.Click To Tweet

She finally “grabs his garment,” the Scripture says. That’s an interesting way of putting this. She’s going to drag him to bed whether he wants to go or not.

And Joseph, of course, realizing now this is way beyond my ability to be diplomatic, he sheds his garment.

I don’t know whether it was just one garment; I don’t know whether he ran away naked or not. It doesn’t say. But he left in a hurry!

She held on to his garment and she starts screaming, “Rape! Rape! Rape!” to everybody that’s in earshot. She gathers everybody so she’s got an alibi to tell her boss when he comes in.

]]>Life Lesson: Sometimes Being Obedient Will Cost You
Listen to the audio:
Subscribe to Podcast: iTunes | Android | Google Play | RSS
Temptation and Unjust Punishment
In this episode:

*
Discover the breadth of Joseph’s role in Egypt in Potiphar’s house and the prison

*
Learn about the moral culture of Egypt and the perspective on adultery

*
Get answers to the following study questions:

* Why did Potiphar trust Joseph?
* What level of responsibility did Joseph have in Potiphar’s house and the jail?
* Why did Potiphar’s wife pursue Joseph?
* How did Joseph respond to seduction and temptation?
* What life lesson can we glean from Joseph’s perseverance through temptation, unjust punishment, and delayed recompense?

Potiphar’s wife shows up really as a, well, she finally decides that she wants Joseph.
The information we get from the secular material of that era, that royal adultery was not condoned but tolerated. Mainly because most of the male personages of the royal court were eunuchs and the desire to perform the marriage rite was reduced, so in many cases the ladies themselves sought extracurricular amusements.
And she apparently became amused by Joseph, or was attempting to get amused by Joseph.

Joseph was very diplomatic, very gentle, and very gracious in all of this.Click To Tweet

Joseph responds very interesting—I’ve thought to myself, “Now, what would I do if I’m in this position and here’s the boss’ wife. She’s good-looking, she’s rich, and she wants me. What would I do?” Now the thought crosses my mind that I would get all spiritual.
Joseph doesn’t do that. He’s very diplomatic; he’s very gentle, very gracious in all of this.
And his response never was to berate or ridicule her, “You terrible lady, you! What in the world do you think you’re doing?” He puts it in the context of his service and his responsibility to Potiphar and the fact that she is his wife and she has a responsibility to him.
He puts it in the context of a spiritual commitment without going into any kind of a preaching service.

Joseph never berated Potiphar’s wife but refused her temptation from a spiritual perspective.Click To Tweet

I’ve always admired the way Joseph handles this situation.
It reminds me often that sometimes when we are faced with temptation, we must be very careful that we do it in a very gracious way to refuse the ...]]>Dr. Henry M. Morris IIIclean12:46Episode 46: Joseph’s Coat of Many Colors [Podcast]http://www.henrymorris3.com/coat-of-many-colors/
Wed, 22 Jun 2016 11:00:28 +0000http://www.henrymorris3.com/?p=2348http://www.henrymorris3.com/coat-of-many-colors/#commentshttp://www.henrymorris3.com/coat-of-many-colors/feed/1<p>We have now reached the life of Joseph in this study of heroes and villains of the Bible. If ever there was an example of somebody who didn’t deserve what he got, this is a good one. Joseph’s story often reminds us that God is aware. One of the phrases that keeps popping up in […]</p>
<p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.henrymorris3.com/coat-of-many-colors/">Episode 46: Joseph’s Coat of Many Colors [Podcast]</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.henrymorris3.com">Dr. Henry M. Morris III</a>.</p>We have now reached the life of Joseph in this study of heroes and villains of the Bible. If ever there was an example of somebody who didn’t deserve what he got, this is a good one. Joseph’s story often reminds us that God is aware. One of the phrases that keeps popping up in this section on Joseph was that “the Lord was with him.” In this episode, learn about Joseph, his coat of many colors, and the infamous dreams that angered his brothers, driving them to sell him into slavery.

Joseph’s Coat of Many Colors

In this episode:

Discover the interpretation of Joseph’s crazy dreams

Quickly uncover the character of Joseph’s brothers by their reaction to his coat of many colors

Get answers to the following study questions:

Why were Joseph’s dreams significant?

What was the true character of Joseph’s brothers?

What did the coat of many colors look like?

Why did Joseph’s brothers sell him into slavery?

Who was Potiphar and what role did he play in Egypt?

Source: Wikipedia; The Coat of Many Colours by Ford Madox Brown (public domain)

So, Jacob now says to Joseph—this guy with this crazy coat and these stupid dreams—he says to Joseph, “Now, go up there and check on your brothers and find out what they’re doing.”

Think of this in the context: We’ve got guys that are well in their thirties by now, running their own businesses, and this little snotty-nosed kid, barely a teenager, is being commissioned by the patriarch to go find out what they’re doing and report back.

So, they’re thinking of him as a tattletale; they’re thinking of him as somebody they don’t even want to have anything to do with. And, of course, when he leaves, Joseph leaves to go find them; he wanders around in this grazing area up there and can’t really find them.

It’s a long hike, by the way, from Bethel to Shechem. It probably took him a couple of days at best.

When he gets there, somebody meets him in the field and says, “Well, they’re over near Dothan,” which is a close-by city; and he found the boys in the city.

The job of the agriculturalist was almost always to be with the herd.Click To Tweet

Now, understand the job of the agriculturalist was almost always to be with the herd and to manage the herd. The boys aren’t there; they’re in the city.

It doesn’t imply yet what they’re doing, but because of their distance and because of the information we have about their prior lives, probably not up to much good.

Joseph has been on the road for two days now. He’s told by this man he’ll find them near Dothan. And, when he finds them, it’s late in the afternoon.

Now, they see him coming. The area around Shechem is relatively flat; it’s an agricultural area, of course. They’re encamped in some way that they can spot this little kid coming by himself. He may have a servant or two with him, but he’s wearing this stupid coat.

Now, hello, pay attention now! This is the snotty-nosed kid with the flashy coat who’s had these terrible dreams about everybody ruling under him. And they can’t stand him.

And they see him out there with this coat, and then they say, “This guy has got to go!” And they plot to kill him, essentially. “Let’s get rid of him. Let’s kill him.”

And their whole focus now is to murder Joseph and do away with him, but, of course, Reuben, who is the oldest of the batch, said, “Nah, we probably shouldn’t kill him. That’ll be too much on our heads. So, rather than that, let’s just kind of hide him for a while; think of something we can do for him to put him in his place.”

So, Reuben says, “Let’s dump him in this well,” (a dry well in the area), “and leave him there to give him time to think about what’s going on.”

Joseph’s brothers’ whole focus now is to murder Joseph and do away with him.Click To Tweet

And during that particular time, while the boys were standing around eating their lunch, they see a caravan of Ishamelites coming by. They don’t sell him to the Ishmaelites; they sell him later to a Midianite band. But that gives them the idea now.

Judah—remember Judah, now? We have all of these interesting fellows. Judah says, “Well, here’s a chance to get rid of him without killing him. So, let’s sell him rather than kill him. And then we can figure out a way to tell Dad that he’s dead and no longer a problem.”

So, the Midianites then come by and they make a deal with him for twenty pieces of silver. And they sell Joseph into slavery, essentially, to these rather despised tribe of Midianites who were slave traders up and down the coast, selling slaves down into Egypt for a profit, of course.

They sold Joseph to a Midianite band for twenty pieces of silver.Click To Tweet

Now, when Reuben comes back, apparently he’s been gone during lunchtime, and he finds that Joseph is sold, so he now, he, Reuben says, “Oh boy, what have you done? For crying out loud, this is a terrible thing.”

And Reuben then says, “Well, here’s what we’ve got to do. We need to at least give a plausible explanation to Jacob for what’s happened and the fact that he’ll never see his son again.”

So, they kill a small goat and put blood all over the pretty coat and tell Jacob that Joseph was killed by a wild animal.

Jacob believes this story and goes into grieving; puts on sackcloth and ashes and so on and grieves, as near as we can tell, for several years. Now, whether he grieves for the entire thirteen years that Joseph is in Egypt, we don’t know, but apparently for quite some time.

Benjamin grows up from a little toddler to a young man during those years.

The brothers kill a small goat and put blood all over the coat of many colors.Click To Tweet

But, for all practical purposes now, the family is separated. Joseph has been sold into slavery.

He is the favorite of Jacob; he is the one who’s had the dreams given to him by God that he will be ruling the family. He knows they’re from God; at least Joseph does, or thinks they are.

And the first thing that happens to him, rather than putting him on a pinnacle of power, is to sell him by the slave traders into Egypt.

Now, guys, we probably don’t have those kinds of problems today, but I suspect you’ve had times in your life where you thought things were going well and just almost all of a sudden they turned around and went south.

If you haven’t had them yet, I assure you that you will have them before the Lord takes you home.

Joseph had been given the dreams by God to tell him that he would rule his family.Click To Tweet

]]>Unveil the Purpose of the Creator in a Flashy Poncho and Crazy Dreams
Listen to the audio:
Subscribe to Podcast: iTunes | Android | Google Play | RSS
Joseph’s Coat of Many Colors
In this episode:

*
Discover the interpretation of Joseph’s crazy dreams

*
Quickly uncover the character of Joseph’s brothers by their reaction to his coat of many colors

*
Get answers to the following study questions:

* Why were Joseph’s dreams significant?
* What was the true character of Joseph’s brothers?
* What did the coat of many colors look like?
* Why did Joseph’s brothers sell him into slavery?
* Who was Potiphar and what role did he play in Egypt?

So, Jacob now says to Joseph—this guy with this crazy coat and these stupid dreams—he says to Joseph, “Now, go up there and check on your brothers and find out what they’re doing.”
Think of this in the context: We’ve got guys that are well in their thirties by now, running their own businesses, and this little snotty-nosed kid, barely a teenager, is being commissioned by the patriarch to go find out what they’re doing and report back.

So, they’re thinking of him as a tattletale; they’re thinking of him as somebody they don’t even want to have anything to do with. And, of course, when he leaves, Joseph leaves to go find them; he wanders around in this grazing area up there and can’t really find them.
It’s a long hike, by the way, from Bethel to Shechem. It probably took him a couple of days at best.
When he gets there, somebody meets him in the field and says, “Well, they’re over near Dothan,” which is a close-by city; and he found the boys in the city.

The job of the agriculturalist was almost always to be with the herd.Click To Tweet

Now, understand the job of the agriculturalist was almost always to be with the herd and to manage the herd. The boys aren’t there; they’re in the city.
It doesn’t imply yet what they’re doing, but because of their distance and because of the information we have about their prior lives, probably not up to much good.
Joseph has been on the road for two days now. He’s told by this man he’ll find them near Dothan. And, when he finds them, it’s late in the afternoon.
Now, they see him coming.]]>Dr. Henry M. Morris IIIclean12:48Episode 45: Messianic Line [Podcast]http://www.henrymorris3.com/messianic-line/
Wed, 15 Jun 2016 11:00:24 +0000http://www.henrymorris3.com/?p=2295http://www.henrymorris3.com/messianic-line/#respondhttp://www.henrymorris3.com/messianic-line/feed/0<p>Flip forward to the Scriptures about Judah. He has business interests in Adullam and begins an illicit relationship with a pagan woman whom he never marries. He has three children by this woman and later gets involved with a prostitute. How can good come from this life of immorality? In this episode, discover how God […]</p>
<p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.henrymorris3.com/messianic-line/">Episode 45: Messianic Line [Podcast]</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.henrymorris3.com">Dr. Henry M. Morris III</a>.</p>Flip forward to the Scriptures about Judah. He has business interests in Adullam and begins an illicit relationship with a pagan woman whom he never marries. He has three children by this woman and later gets involved with a prostitute. How can good come from this life of immorality? In this episode, discover how God providentially works through the life of Judah to preserve the Messianic line.

The Scripture says of Ur that “he was wicked and God killed him.”Click To Tweet

Tamar then, now a widow twice—both physically and literally and legally—is told by Judah to wait for this third son to come along, who wasn’t yet apparently of marriageable age—maybe he’s a pre-teen, or something of that nature.

And Tamar is instructed to go back to her father’s house; Judah just goes on with his business and apparently forgets about her.

Many years later, Tamar is told that Judah is coming back to the area for a celebration of sheep shearing. She knows that he doesn’t intend to include her in his plans for his third son who, by the way, is not a legal son, but is just under his protection apparently.

There’s no indication that Judah marries anybody else.

What in the world is a leader of God’s people doing with an affair in a pagan city?Click To Tweet

So, he hires Tamar, who, by the way, has decided the only way she’s going to get her relationship settled is to act as a prostitute.

By the way, that was a common practice in those days. The worship of these demons had, as one of their major rites, fertility rites. And the women of the city would hire themselves out as sex partners to celebrate the fertility rites. And the money that they were paid, part of them would go to the woman, part of it to the temple.

Judah just goes on with his business and apparently forgets about Tamar.Click To Tweet

So, Judah wants to have this sexual relationship with this prostitute he sees on the street.

And he says, “Let’s go to bed.” And she says, “Well, how much are you going to pay me?”

And he says, “Well, I’ll send you a kid from the flock.” And she said, “Well, I don’t see any lamb here. What are you going to give me as a pledge?”

Talk about a dumb guy. He says, “Well, I’ll give you my signet ring and my staff,” which, by the way, wasn’t a rod; it was like a—have you ever seen these formal ceremonies where the mayor has a big thing with a round signal on the top—that’s what he’s talking about here.

So, these are the two identifying features that would signify Judah is a wealthy, prosperous head of a very significant family.

So, he says, “I’ll give you these things as surety for a later payment.” Tamar, of course, takes advantage of the moment and runs away.

Judah was a wealthy, prosperous head of a very significant family.Click To Tweet

She is now pregnant by Judah.

She hides herself. Three months later, she comes back, or she is discovered. Judah says, “Let’s burn this witch.”

By the way, are you catching all the hypocrisy and the duplicity in this? This is absolutely horrible!

Judah says, “According to the laws of the land now, this is one of the ladies who has defiled herself.”

Defiled?! For crying out loud, she’s acted as one of the religious prostitutes of the day; he’s the one that’s done the defiling. He’s the one that should be righteous.

In fact, Judah now is convicted by this and he says, “She’s more righteous than I.”

Are you catching all the hypocrisy and the duplicity in this?Click To Tweet

Can you imagine this? She is dragged up before the court now; and Judah sits in his royal entourage with all of the trappings of his wealth around him. And she’s groveling on the floor and he says, “Burn her! Who did this to you?”

And she produces his signet ring and his staff and says, “This is the guy that got me pregnant.”

Can you imagine what happened with the rest of the folks around there? Talk about jaws dropping.

]]>Trace the Line of the Messiah through the Life of Judah
Listen to the audio:
Subscribe to Podcast: iTunes | Android | Google Play | RSS
Messianic Line
In this episode:

*
Find out what happened to the idols Rachel stole from Laban

*
Discover the trend of immorality within Jacob’s family, particularly in the lives of Reuben and Judah

*
Get answers to the following study questions:

* How did Reuben act immorally?
* What New Testament situation reflects Reuben’s sinful act?
* How do we see a precursor to the Mosaic Law in the lives of Judah’s first two sons?
* Why was Tamar “more righteous” than Judah?
* How did God providentially work in the life of Judah to preserve the Messianic line?

The Scripture says of Ur that “he was wicked and God killed him.”Click To Tweet

Tamar then, now a widow twice—both physically and literally and legally—is told by Judah to wait for this third son to come along, who wasn’t yet apparently of marriageable age—maybe he’s a pre-teen, or something of that nature.
And Tamar is instructed to go back to her father’s house; Judah just goes on with his business and apparently forgets about her.
Many years later, Tamar is told that Judah is coming back to the area for a celebration of sheep shearing. She knows that he doesn’t intend to include her in his plans for his third son who, by the way, is not a legal son, but is just under his protection apparently.
There’s no indication that Judah marries anybody else.

What in the world is a leader of God’s people doing with an affair in a pagan city?Click To Tweet

Judah when he’s there—probably halfway intoxicated—decides he needed a bed partner.
So, he hires Tamar, who, by the way, has decided the only way she’s going to get her relationship settled is to act as a prostitute.
By the way, that was a common practice in those days. The worship of these demons had, as one of their major rites, fertility rites. And the women of the city would hire themselves out as sex partners to celebrate the fertility rites. And the money that they were paid, part of them would go to the woman, part of it to the temple.

Judah just goes on with his business and apparently forgets about Tamar.